With This Blood
by Lucy Sienna
Summary: A little interlude post "And the Loom of Fate". Flynn muses on how he was able to bring back the Library using Eve's blood and what that all means, with a little help from the past...


A/N: Yes, I know the timing of some of the occurrences in this story are ridiculous, but…meh. Let's just say it's magic. This is just my little interlude on the whole Dulac needed blood of someone who loved him to get to the loom, then Flynn said "with this blood" (meaning Eve's blood) to bring the library back. Which was a delicious little nugget that I didn't catch until I was re-watching to prepare for season 2. So enjoy, and don't tell the OUAT fandom…I haven't updated one of my fics there in a while…ehem. As always, I own nothing.

With This Blood

By: Lucy Sienna

The Library was back.

It'd been back a whole day and hadn't disappeared.

It felt _good_ to have the library back where it belonged.

Really _good_.

But it had given him something to think about. When Dulac killed Lamia, he said her blood sacrifice worked _because_ she loved him. Flynn had caught that little nugget as Lamia dropped him.

Eve's blood sacrifice brought the library back.

And that meant something.

That meant a whole hell of a lot more than he wanted to think about.

Or, well, than he usually wanted to think about.

He knew what the blood sacrifice meant. And at that point in a relationship, that's usually when he started to panic. Or…the girl did. He and Eve weren't even in a relationship. Kind of. This was too heavy for just about anyone, and most women would be running for the exit as soon as they learned about his crazy life.

But not Eve.

Eve had trusted him the moment he barged into her raid. He hadn't felt this way since Simone. With Simone…he had known that one had an expiration date from the start.

But not with Eve.

No, Eve was…she could be it. The one that stayed. If she didn't die, of course.

Or he didn't die.

That was not a pleasant thought.

"What am I going to do?" Flynn asked, then laughed. "I'm talking to the library. I'm talking to no one."

Just then a ghost appeared.

"Yes you are." A tall, blonde woman smiled.

Flynn stood in shock. "Nicole? Aren't you…"

"Dead? Yes. This is sort of…an echo." Nicole said. "Special little quirk of the library. I don't have much time."

"But you're okay?"

"Yes, Flynn." She nodded. "I had a pretty full life after retiring. It was a car accident, you know that. There was nothing you could have done. And my husband and daughter…they are doing just fine. They miss me but they have lived. Just as you have."

"Well, we were…"

"Not meant to be."

"Are you always going to just finish my sentences? Or is it some weird ghosty thing?"

"No, I just know you." Nicole shrugged. "I know why you're worrying, Flynn. Being a guardian…my mistake was to fall in love with a man who wasn't honest with me. Falling in love with the librarian was not a mistake."

"But it's dangerous. I'm distracted, she's distracted. And I don't know that I could sacrifice her for the greater good."

"Yes, but she's a guardian. She'd sacrifice herself, just as you would." She nodded. "You have tried and failed with many women, because you had to be ready for _her_. It's all fate."

"Oi. Fate." Flynn groaned. "I've had enough fate for quite a while, thank you."

"And yet…you know I'm right." Nicole shook her head.

"So what do I do?"

"Use your brain, Librarian." She sighed. "What do you usually do when you like a girl?"

"Awkwardly try to speak and end up saying something ridiculous." Flynn put his head in his hands.

"Well, maybe this time just keep it simple and…you know just…ask her out." Nicole suggested.

"What, like, 'hey do you want to get dinner?'" Flynn asked. "Does that actually work?"

"You'd be surprised." Nicole nodded. "Keep it simple, and trust your heart, Librarian."

"What if she's not ready?"

Nicole sighed. "Okay, I lied, stop using your head so much. Just…go ask her. But, maybe get rid of the kids first?"

"Like, fire them?"

"No. Let them go. They can handle it." Nicole smiled and stood. "Good luck Flynn."

"Thanks." Flynn said but she'd already vanished. "Goodbye, Nicole."

His old guardian had given him a great deal to think on. Not only the implications of fate bringing he and Eve together, but the suggestion to let the junior librarians go off on their own.

"How to get rid of the kids…" Flynn thought aloud as he paced. "They need to be doing something for the library. Obviously. How have they been getting tasks? Could I give them a list? No. It'd take me months just to make it. And I'd probably end up investigating everything myself. What to do? What to do? If only there were…I got it!"

Flynn ran to the door and walked back into the annex. "Jenkins!"

"He's in his lab. What's up?" Eve asked. "You were only in there for a few hours. I didn't think we'd pull you out of there for _days_."

"Nah. I just wanted to welcome it back." Flynn shrugged, and looked at her. "Let's see what you think."

"What I think?" Baird looked at him strangely. "About what?"

"Letting the kids go."

"You mean, like, firing them?"

"No. I mean get Jenkins to make them little clippings books and let them get their feet wet alone or as a team, but without, you know, us." Flynn leaned on the desk.

Baird paused, clearly thinking over the idea. "Well…I guess it may be time. I mean, Ezekiel and Stone can take care of themselves. So can Cassandra, but I'm pretty sure the boys won't let her get into too much trouble…yeah. I like it. At least for a little while."

"Good. I'll go tell Jenkins." Flynn grinned and ran off.

Eve shook her head. Flynn was an odd duck, but on him, it worked. It was charming. And maybe without the other three, the two of them could really talk about…what they were. Whatever that was. And maybe she could get a few more answers out of Jenkins.

"He's working on it now. I've never seen someone so motivated to get rid of people." Flynn shook his head walking back in.

"That's Jenkins for you." Baird smiled. "So…I haven't had a chance to ask you…what do you remember from our little adventure?"

Flynn paused, images from the alternate reality flitting through his mind. Mostly it was a blur, though he did clearly remember Stone kissing Eve which was…irritating and weird. He remembered Lancelot and Jenkins. And Eve getting stabbed. But it was sort of fuzzy and unclear. "Not much. I know we were at the loom of fate. I know you got stabbed. But…nothing else really."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Eve asked, an edge in her voice as she clearly didn't believe him.

"Um…it does. But we were dealing with fate, and as you told me, alternate realities." He shrugged. "It's certainly vexing but I don't know that we'll ever figure out exactly what happened."

"Uh-hu." She crossed her arms, clearly not buying his excuse.

"Done." Jenkins announced, walking in.

"Really? That was fast." Flynn spun around.

"It's amazing what you can do with the proper motivation." Jenkins quipped.

Eve just rolled her eyes. Some things never changed.


End file.
